Tag: Francis Ngannou

Deontay Wilder Welcomes Francis Ngannou Clash After Dismissing Retirement Calls

Following his successful return to MMA last month, it isn’t clear yet what Francis Ngannou’s next step will be. There was a lot of pressure and emotion surrounding his long awaited PFL debut against Renan Ferreira. Not only was Ngannou coming off his first knockout loss where he was stopped by Anthony Joshua in his […]

Continue Reading Deontay Wilder Welcomes Francis Ngannou Clash After Dismissing Retirement Calls at MMA News.

Following his successful return to MMA last month, it isn’t clear yet what Francis Ngannou’s next step will be. There was a lot of pressure and emotion surrounding his long awaited PFL debut against Renan Ferreira.

Not only was Ngannou coming off his first knockout loss where he was stopped by Anthony Joshua in his second boxing match, the former UFC heavyweight champion was motivated to return to competition in the memory of his late son Kobe. Getting his hand raised in the PFL by any means neccesary was his primary focus but after dominating Ferreira and finishing him in the first round, there isn’t a clear next challenge for him in MMA.

Even with a record of 0-2, there are still some big fights left for Ngannou in the boxing world and though it might not be on the same level as his fights with Tyson Fury or Joshua, a meeting with Deontay Wilder would still be a big draw even if both men are coming off of knockout losses in the ring.

Wilder was finished in the fifth round by Zhilei Zhang in June in what looked like could be the final outing of his 48-fight career. “The Bronze Bomber” recently revealed in an interview with TMZ that he’s working towards a return after taking some time off.

“The best is yet to come, I always say that. We’re still going, we’re still here, you know what I mean we just getting things together man. I’m just handling a lot of things, I had a lot of outside distractions that I had to get rid of.”

Wilder also spoke about the potential of facing Ngannou next time out, sending his potential opponent a message of support after the difficult year he has gone through.

“Even since I’ve been off and stuff like that, it’s been a lot of offers coming in, a lot of things, different countries and stuff like that and even with Francis, what’s up brother. I hope everything’s going good for you man and I’m sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what it’s like to lose a child man, I never hope to even feel that feeling of it but I wish, I hope life is going beautifully for you bro and yeah, that’s a conversation I’m still looking to getting in the mix and talk about.”

Continue Reading Deontay Wilder Welcomes Francis Ngannou Clash After Dismissing Retirement Calls at MMA News.

Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’ 

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year. Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last […]

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year.

Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last month following a two-fight stint in the boxing ring.

Debuting for the PFL, “The Predator” headlined a pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia opposite Brazil’s Renan Ferreira. While the 2023 PFL heavyweight title winner was expected to pose a threat by many, he was battered en route to a knockout defeat within the first round.

The result saw Ngannou crowned the inaugural PFL Super Fight heavyweight champ, and he subsequently reaffirmed his belief that no heavyweight comes close to matching him.

Unsurprisingly, the uber-confident Anatoly Malykhin has something to say about that.

During a recent interview with MMA Knockout, the three-division ONE Championship king reiterated his desire to do battle with another of the planet’s most devastating heavyweight knockout artists.

And the Russian’s fire for that fight appears to have been flamed by “The Predator’s” claim to global supremacy in the division following his successful return to the cage last month in the Middle East.

“2025, for me, is a year when a really big fight should happen, that’s what I want. Because Ngannou, Francis Ngannou, recently said that he’s the best fighter on the planet, which he cannot and should not be saying until he faces me,” Malykhin said. “So my fight against Ngannou is something that needs to happen in 2025. I think everybody looks forward to that, everybody wants that fight, and we need to have it to decide once and for all who is the best heavyweight in the world right now.”

Anataoly Malykhin
Image: ONE Championship

And beyond himself, “Sladkiy” sees plenty of threats to Ngannou from Russian brutes already under the PFL banner, naming 2024 PFL heavyweight finalist Oleg Popov and former Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov.

“Francis Ngannou is a strong fighter. I watched his fight (with Ferreira), he’s got a great skillset,” Malykhin stated. “He has got some great opposition in PFL. That’s Oleg Popov, who’s definitely gonna win the (heavyweight tournament). Everybody needs to keep his eyes on Popov, this guy is going to be absolutely amazing. I can see great things coming for him. And of course there is Vadim Nemkov, who is another amazing Russian fighter.

“As for Ngannou, I think that it was more of a psychological pressure for him to come back into the ring after such a long break from MMA. But I think he did well, he did well,” Malykhin continued. “But his words after the fight, I think were a little bit premature. He shouldn’t have said that he is the greatest heavyweight in the world.”

For now, Malykhin’s sights are on a different African heavyweight behemoth — one currently competing alongside him in ONE.

The heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight champ will put the first of those titles on the line against Senagalese powerhouse Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane tomorrow night at ONE 169.

The build-up to their showdown at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand has been a heated one, with the pair almost coming to blows at the hotel and press conference faceoff during fight week.

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’ 

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year. Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last […]

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

The top heavyweight competing in Asia’s leading martial arts promotion plans to prove his superiority over the rest of the pack by facing and defeating PFL champion Francis Ngannou next year.

Having not competed in MMA since January 2022, Ngannou made his highly anticipated return to the sport in which he made his name last month following a two-fight stint in the boxing ring.

Debuting for the PFL, “The Predator” headlined a pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia opposite Brazil’s Renan Ferreira. While the 2023 PFL heavyweight title winner was expected to pose a threat by many, he was battered en route to a knockout defeat within the first round.

The result saw Ngannou crowned the inaugural PFL Super Fight heavyweight champ, and he subsequently reaffirmed his belief that no heavyweight comes close to matching him.

Unsurprisingly, the uber-confident Anatoly Malykhin has something to say about that.

During a recent interview with MMA Knockout, the three-division ONE Championship king reiterated his desire to do battle with another of the planet’s most devastating heavyweight knockout artists.

And the Russian’s fire for that fight appears to have been flamed by “The Predator’s” claim to global supremacy in the division following his successful return to the cage last month in the Middle East.

“2025, for me, is a year when a really big fight should happen, that’s what I want. Because Ngannou, Francis Ngannou, recently said that he’s the best fighter on the planet, which he cannot and should not be saying until he faces me,” Malykhin said. “So my fight against Ngannou is something that needs to happen in 2025. I think everybody looks forward to that, everybody wants that fight, and we need to have it to decide once and for all who is the best heavyweight in the world right now.”

Anataoly Malykhin
Image: ONE Championship

And beyond himself, “Sladkiy” sees plenty of threats to Ngannou from Russian brutes already under the PFL banner, naming 2024 PFL heavyweight finalist Oleg Popov and former Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov.

“Francis Ngannou is a strong fighter. I watched his fight (with Ferreira), he’s got a great skillset,” Malykhin stated. “He has got some great opposition in PFL. That’s Oleg Popov, who’s definitely gonna win the (heavyweight tournament). Everybody needs to keep his eyes on Popov, this guy is going to be absolutely amazing. I can see great things coming for him. And of course there is Vadim Nemkov, who is another amazing Russian fighter.

“As for Ngannou, I think that it was more of a psychological pressure for him to come back into the ring after such a long break from MMA. But I think he did well, he did well,” Malykhin continued. “But his words after the fight, I think were a little bit premature. He shouldn’t have said that he is the greatest heavyweight in the world.”

For now, Malykhin’s sights are on a different African heavyweight behemoth — one currently competing alongside him in ONE.

The heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight champ will put the first of those titles on the line against Senagalese powerhouse Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane tomorrow night at ONE 169.

The build-up to their showdown at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand has been a heated one, with the pair almost coming to blows at the hotel and press conference faceoff during fight week.

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou Called Out By Three-Division Champ For 2025 Superfight To Decide ‘Best Heavyweight In The World’  at MMA News.

Francis Ngannou’s Coach Breaks Down How He Would Game Plan For Jon Jones

Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest fight in the heavyweight division across MMA may never happen. The prospect of seeing Jon Jones move up to heavyweight to face Francis Ngannou was one of the most talked about fights that we didn’t get to see when both men were in the UFC. Unfortunately, Jones debuting in […]

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou’s Coach Breaks Down How He Would Game Plan For Jon Jones at MMA News.

Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest fight in the heavyweight division across MMA may never happen. The prospect of seeing Jon Jones move up to heavyweight to face Francis Ngannou was one of the most talked about fights that we didn’t get to see when both men were in the UFC.

Unfortunately, Jones debuting in his new weight class saw him win the vacant title that was left behind when Ngannou departed the promotion and signed to the PFL. Though this super fight between champions is something that the PFL is very keen on, it seems incredibly unlikely that a deal will ever take place between the two promotions.

It’s still going to be used as a talking point for fans for many years to come and in a recent interview with Kevin Iole, Ngannou’s coach spoke about how he would have tried to approach the fight if it had happened inside the Octagon. Eric Nicksick broke down where he believes they would have had success in the fight.

Like many would assume, competing against the consensus greatest of all time in a technical back-and-forth would not have been the desired strategy for the Xtreme Couture head coach.

“I definitely think you had to put Jon on his back foot, you had to put pressure on him, you had to put him up against the corner post and you couldn’t get in a technical fight with Jon and you couldn’t allow him to dictate the hand play right, where he starts to occupy your hands and that’s a slow paced type of fight where Jon is very technical there and he starts to pick you apart with elbows and the clinch and the knees and the things that he does so well.

“For me, I thought we got to get this guy on his back foot and we got to apply pressure right away and make it an ugly fight, don’t make it a technical fight. You’re going to have to make this grimy and try to get out of there, try to get him out of there in the first two-three rounds. I think the longer a fight would have gone between him and Francis, it would have favored more Jon and that was where I felt like if we put a game plan on him, we were going to have to put the pace on him.”

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou’s Coach Breaks Down How He Would Game Plan For Jon Jones at MMA News.

Francis Ngannou’s Coach Breaks Down How He Would Game Plan For Jon Jones

Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest fight in the heavyweight division across MMA may never happen. The prospect of seeing Jon Jones move up to heavyweight to face Francis Ngannou was one of the most talked about fights that we didn’t get to see when both men were in the UFC. Unfortunately, Jones debuting in […]

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou’s Coach Breaks Down How He Would Game Plan For Jon Jones at MMA News.

Unfortunately, it looks like the biggest fight in the heavyweight division across MMA may never happen. The prospect of seeing Jon Jones move up to heavyweight to face Francis Ngannou was one of the most talked about fights that we didn’t get to see when both men were in the UFC.

Unfortunately, Jones debuting in his new weight class saw him win the vacant title that was left behind when Ngannou departed the promotion and signed to the PFL. Though this super fight between champions is something that the PFL is very keen on, it seems incredibly unlikely that a deal will ever take place between the two promotions.

It’s still going to be used as a talking point for fans for many years to come and in a recent interview with Kevin Iole, Ngannou’s coach spoke about how he would have tried to approach the fight if it had happened inside the Octagon. Eric Nicksick broke down where he believes they would have had success in the fight.

Like many would assume, competing against the consensus greatest of all time in a technical back-and-forth would not have been the desired strategy for the Xtreme Couture head coach.

“I definitely think you had to put Jon on his back foot, you had to put pressure on him, you had to put him up against the corner post and you couldn’t get in a technical fight with Jon and you couldn’t allow him to dictate the hand play right, where he starts to occupy your hands and that’s a slow paced type of fight where Jon is very technical there and he starts to pick you apart with elbows and the clinch and the knees and the things that he does so well.

“For me, I thought we got to get this guy on his back foot and we got to apply pressure right away and make it an ugly fight, don’t make it a technical fight. You’re going to have to make this grimy and try to get out of there, try to get him out of there in the first two-three rounds. I think the longer a fight would have gone between him and Francis, it would have favored more Jon and that was where I felt like if we put a game plan on him, we were going to have to put the pace on him.”

Continue Reading Francis Ngannou’s Coach Breaks Down How He Would Game Plan For Jon Jones at MMA News.

Daniel Cormier: ‘Sharpest Businessman’ Dana White Can Make Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou couldn’t have had a better return to MMA as he knocked out Renan Ferreira in the first round to win the PFL heavyweight championship on October 19, 2024. Jon Jones, on the other hand, is finally returning to the Octagon against Stipe Miocic on November 16, 2024. Ngannou was the UFC heavyweight kingpin […]

Continue Reading Daniel Cormier: ‘Sharpest Businessman’ Dana White Can Make Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou at MMA News.

Francis Ngannou couldn’t have had a better return to MMA as he knocked out Renan Ferreira in the first round to win the PFL heavyweight championship on October 19, 2024. Jon Jones, on the other hand, is finally returning to the Octagon against Stipe Miocic on November 16, 2024.

Ngannou was the UFC heavyweight kingpin before Jones moved up to the division. Many fans eagerly wanted to see them fight, but before anything could materialize, Ngannou left the UFC and signed with the PFL. He also boxed in high-profile matchups against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

“The Predator” was recently asked on The Ariel Helwani Show if he could still fight “Bones”. The lineal heavyweight MMA champion claimed that the superfight is not completely off the table and that figures like Turki Alalshikh might play a role in it.

Alalshikh, as the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has helped organize several major combat sports events over the last few years.

Daniel Cormier reviewed Ngannou’s statements on his YouTube channel recently. He admitted that White’s rocky relationship with the PFL champ is a problem, but Riyadh Season’s inclusion could shake things up.

The former UFC champ mentioned that Riyadh Season sponsoring UFC 306 was a huge development, and might have laid the foundation for crossovers like Jones vs. Ngannou.

“Dana does not like Francis, that is a massive problem. Massive problem. But hell, when in the world do you put that over business. I don’t know that he will, he’s one of the smartest, sharpest businessman you’ve ever met. If the dollars make sense, the fight could potentially happen,” DC continued. “If Francis is to be believed, and Francis has had these conversations, we’re now entering a world where multiple partnerships already established in this realm. ESPN UFC, ESPN PFL, Riyadh Season UFC. Ladies and gentleman, maybe, just maybe, we get that fight.”

DC also believes White is smart enough to put personal differences aside for a lucrative business opportunity. He isn’t sure that Ngannou and Jones will fight in MMA, but he’s not ruling out the possibility entirely.

Continue Reading Daniel Cormier: ‘Sharpest Businessman’ Dana White Can Make Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou at MMA News.